Royal Reckoning by Stephanie St. Klaire

8

Carter lookedat Ryla and Eli. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing? This is how you want to handle it?”

“Yes,” Eli deadpanned, eyes fixed on the front door, willing it to finally open so he could face a friend turned foe – a new enemy. “I need to know if this is my…our father’s doing. And I need to know why. This will never be over, not really, until I know, and we can stop the bleeding from the source.”

“Which is why you are so worried about Penelope. If he’ll go after you and your unborn child to get what he wants, he’d hurt his own daughter to make his point.” Carter was beginning to understand. “It doesn’t help that he made it very clear he doesn’t want his legacy to fall in the hands of a woman.”

“The man is a womanizer. Acts as though his deeds are out of respect and that he worships women, but it’s quite the opposite,” Ryla said. “He loathes them. Thinks they’re beneath him and there for his pleasure. They are good for one thing as far as he is concerned. He’s a despicable man.”

“Precisely,” Eli said. “That could be the motive here. Leverage.”

“To force you to make a choice,” Carter pointed out.

“A choice I already made, and he didn’t like. If he stacks the deck in a different way, he thinks I will reconsider out of duty.”

“Would you?” Ryla asked.

“Not a chance. Nothing will change how I feel,” Eli admitted. “The line of succession would eventually turn over to your line. Would you, Ryla, take the role? Would you fight for it? Or you, Carter? Despite your absence, it is your birthright. You could prove your lineage and fight for it too.”

“Not a chance in hell. I didn’t even know this place existed until we hopped on the plane, and to be honest, it feels very dated. You said it yourself, the monarchy has influence but little power, and it’s mostly pomp and circumstance. That’s not me.”

“Which is what truly makes you one of us. It’s also why you need to be careful, Carter. He will not hesitate to remove any and all obstacles,” Ryla said.

“Me?”

“Why do you think I let you come with me? It’s a little hard to keep everyone in the States safe when I’m clear over here, and unless you saw this for yourself, you wouldn’t believe it if I told you,” Eli admitted.

“So, when I showed up on that tarmac, I already knew too much. I was too close,” Carter said, and Eli nodded. “And here I thought I had your back.”

“He thinks I’ll step up when everything around me begins to crumble, and I’ll take the role as a means to stop the chaos or out of sheer fear. Perhaps I should watch my back too then. Maybe I am at risk as much as the others.”

“That would be wise, Eli. I knew I’d find you here. It was only a matter of time.” A voice from the den to their right spoke. In from the shadows walked Jonas.

“You did this. Why?” Eli’s words were laced with pain and disappointment. Jonas, his godfather, had been the only real example of a father he had. He was a mentor. A support. Loving even.

Jonas chuckled softly. “It doesn’t surprise me that after all these years, you’d come home for a woman. Some things never change. You always had a heart for the ladies.”

“I’m nothing like him, Jonas,” Eli said, referring to his father and his thirst for women.

“I know, son. You are nothing like him, and that’s what makes me so proud. She’s a lovely girl, Elias. I see why you're smitten with her. You’re good for each other. Your child… He is very lucky to have you as a father.” Jonas smiled briefly as his eyes filled with emotion. “I’m only sorry I won’t be there to see it.”

“Did you do this for him? Just tell me my father ordered this, that he’s behind it, and all is forgiven. You were just following orders and at the mercy of a mad king. Tell me, Jonas,” Eli pleaded.

Jonas looked at Carter with a warm smile. “You found your brother. I’m glad you have each other now.”

“It was you? You sent me the lead?” It was as though everything was falling into place and making more sense than it had, but the more he learned, the more Eli feared. He sensed it. Something was off. Something was not as it seemed, and it frightened him.

“I’ve watched over Carter and his mother all along. I watched all of the children. Your father is a good diplomat and politician, but a good father? He left a lot to be desired. And despite that, he managed to have wonderful children, and I credit that to the brokenhearted mothers he left behind. At least he had good taste there.”

“I hardly think there’s anything good about a man like that,” Carter said.

Jonas nodded. “I don’t disagree…”

Eli shook his head in disbelief. “Jonas here is quite the optimist, likes to see the good in everyone. Hence, a lifetime at the side of our father. Why, Jonas? Surely your loyalty has limits?”

“I did this for you. To protect you and the girl…and the baby. All the reasons you mention as reasons to loathe the man and abandon his court are the very reasons I remained. To oversee the few good things he accomplished. All of you,” Jonas admitted. “Carter, I don’t believe you remember, but we have met before. More than once. I can see you are as protective of your brother and newfound family as you were then of your mother, and you were only a boy back then. You’ve grown to be an exceptional man. I know your mother would be proud of you.”

Carter held a stony glare, unsure how to reply. Did he remember Jonas? Was there something familiar about him? The unease the uncertainty created left Carter more guarded than before.

Eli said in a low voice. “So you did know about the pregnancy?”

“There’s very little that I don’t know. I’ve made it my job to watch over you. I’ve spent a lifetime doing it. I have resources much like yours. I even know who you really are, what you do, and I’m not surprised one bit by who you have become.” A lone tear made its way down his cheek. “I’m so proud of you, son. I want you to always remember that and remember all I’ve ever done is protect you.”

“How is this protecting me? It could only hurt me to use them. You betrayed me, Jonas.”

“There’s so much you don’t know that you wouldn’t even begin to understand if I told you. There’s just too much. All I can tell you is I did this for you. To make sure the lovely girl and baby make it back to you safely.”

Eli put a hand up as a look of confusion filled his expression. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Then why take her in the first place? You couldn’t call? You do realize that you aren’t making any sense, right? None of this… None of it makes sense, Jonas.”

“There wasn’t time, Elias. I failed you. I failed your siblings. I thought…I thought I could protect all of you. I always thought of you as my own. All of you. But not even I could stop this. I failed one, which meant I failed you all. I couldn’t stop the storm. It was already out of control, raging, clearing everything in its path. It’s still coming for you, son. Be prepared. You’ll know when it’s landed on your soil.” Jonas had become increasingly emotional.

“Jonas, the dramatics are unnecessary. What the hell does all this mean? A storm? Couldn’t stop it? You mean my father…our father?”

“I mean, you wouldn’t believe it unless you see it with your own eyes. Your father didn’t, and now it’s too late, even for your father – my closest friend. I can no longer protect him. It’s too late. Your father’s failing health isn’t natural.”

“What? So he was poisoned? Is that where this is going?” Eli questioned. Jonas was a very deep thinking, well-spoken man. Dramatics weren’t entirely unusual, but they were to this degree. Eli was beginning to question the man’s sanity. When Jonas nodded, Eli became numb.

“It is poison? You have poisoned him? What have you done, Jonas?”

“I have failed to protect my king and his children. One more than the others.”

“Then what does Cally and my unborn son have to do with all of this?”

Jonas plainly said, “You know exactly what role they play. It’s what brought you here in the first place. Think, Elias. Think this through.”

Eli ran a hand down his face in frustration. “Jesus, Jonas.”

“I have made a deal with the devil, and there will be blood on my hands if I don’t stop my part of the bleeding.” Jonas pulled a knife from under his jacket.

When the team raised their weapons in response to its sight, Eli raised his hand to stop them. Jonas wasn’t going to hurt him. He might not understand the behaviors his mentor was exhibiting at the moment, but he did know Jonas would never hurt him.

“Hold your fire. He won’t hurt me,” Eli said without turning his attention away from Jonas.

“Oh, but I already have, my boy. And I am so deeply sorry for what I have done and the pain it has caused you. Know that I have always loved you, my son.”

Jonas raised the blade to his throat and dragged it from one side of his neck to the other.

“Jonas, no!” Eli yelled, rushing to the man to try to stop him. But he was too late.

Eli held his hand over the gaping wound and embraced the man with the other as they slowly lowered to the floor. He held Jonas as he began to gurgle, his death not immediate.

“Forgive me, son,” he said in a barely-there whisper as his final breath.

He was gone. Died in Eli’s arms, creating more questions and lending no more clarity than they’d arrived with. Eli held the man for a moment, maybe two, recounting the conversation in his mind while it was fresh. Hoping something would spark an idea or sense of knowing. But it didn’t.

Eli gently laid the older man’s head on the floor and dragged his fingers over his dark and empty stare, closing the man’s eyes for his final rest. He perched back on his knees and pinched the bridge of his nose while he took a moment to collect himself. The room was quiet. His team was silent as they offered Eli respect, given the tragedy they’d all just witnessed.

It wasn’t clear what had happened leading up to this point, but Eli was certain that Jonas was still an ally to the end. He just didn’t know who Jonas was protecting all of them from. Was it his father? Was it an enemy unknown? What the hell was this storm he spoke of? Unfortunately, he would be leaving with more questions than answers.

Ryla placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and spoke softly. “We have to go now, Eli.”

Eli placed his hand over hers, his gaze still fixed on Jonas’s lifeless body.

“I’ll see to it that he is respectfully removed and receives a proper burial,” she said. “But for now, we must leave. Cally is waiting, Eli.”

At the sound of her name, he snapped out of whatever trance he’d been in. When he stood, Carter offered him a towel for his bloodstained hands, and he saw that Ryla had been crying. Something she didn’t often do. She’d been close to Jonas too. She and Eli had both spent a lot of time together there as children. He pulled her into an embrace to offer her comfort, which she accepted gracefully.

With one more look at his friend, Eli closed his eyes, let out a deep sigh, and said, “Let’s get the hell out of here.”